See With the Masses, Against the Stream: French Trotskyism in the Second World War by Ian Birchall. From a family of Hungarian aristocrats who sought refuge in London, Orczy married a young Englishman in 1894. Burke criticised the developments in France, condemning the revolution to fail and predicting – correctly, as it turned out – that it would end in tyranny and violence. Much of his research was concerned with how ordinary people, particularly peasants, responded to revolutionary ideas and participated in revolutionary events. Paine argued that before 1789 France was a despotic aristocracy, wedded to inequality and privilege, addicted to war and stifled by its disregard for ordinary people. The editor of Marxist.com, Alan Woods, recently appeared on a programme on the French Revolution broadcast on the History Channel in the U.S. Unlike Burke, Paine was a political radical who believed in republicanism and universal democracy. A contrasting contemporary view can be found in the writings of Thomas Paine (1737-1809). Historians like Olwen Hufton and Dominique Godineau have also examined the role of working-class women, particularly female sans culottes and peasants. Pierre Broué, Pierre Frank and Michel Pablo. The French academic Catherine Marand-Fouquet argues that the demands of revolutionary women have been trivialised and reduced to complaints about prices, food and hunger. Revisionism, in Marxist thought, originally the late 19th-century effort of Eduard Bernstein to revise Marxist doctrine. See the Anarchism Subject Archive, including James Guillaume, Ravachol, Mikahil Bakunin (though Russian, did much of his work in France). See The Manouchian Group – an archive about a group of mainly foreign communists, remembered as martyrs and heroes of the French Resistance. Includes analysis of French History and other writings such as philosophy and political economy. Soboul’s groundbreaking research brought the sans culottes to the forefront of the revolution – just as Lefebvre’s research had done for the peasantry. He obtained a position at the Collège Sainte-Barbe while still in his early 20s and later tutored the daughters of French royalty. Michelet did not attempt much serious historical writing until the 1830s. Despite Marx's personal dislike of Frenchmen, all three of his daughters fell in love with French men: Jenny Marx married Charles Longuet, Laura Marx married Paul Lafargue and at age 16, Elenaor fell in love with Henri Lissagary but was forbidden by Marx to marry him, later marrying the Englishman Edward Aveling ! Ideologically, Michelet was liberal, republican, anti-clerical and socially progressive. keiranburns1206. One of the forerunners of this movement is Alfred Cobban in his book The Social Interpretation of the French Revolution11• Cobban is a social historian, and much of his approach to interpreting the Revolution is a direct reaction against Marxist historians like Soboul. Several female historians have produced interesting perspectives about how the revolution involved, marginalised and affected women. Taylor pointed out that many nobles were actually progressive capitalists, while many bourgeois revolutionaries were scarcely capitalist at all. Born in Scotland and trained as a mathematics teacher, Carlyle turned his hand to philosophy and history in his late 20s. It contains 231,429 words in 354 pages and was updated on December 2nd 2020. The restoration of the Bourbon monarchy in 1815 prompted Carlyle to begin writing a history of the French Revolution. Because of its significance, the French Revolution has been studied by hundreds of historians. Because the revolution had no decisive or unifying leadership, it became a series of unexpected events, responses and reactions, class tensions and factional conflict. Paine’s Common Sense had a similar effect in America as Emmanuel Sieyès‘ What is the Third Estate? A Briton who emigrated to Pennsylvania, North America in 1774, he became a political journalist and a revolutionary himself. The assault on the Bastille, the Reign of Terror, Danton mocking his executioner, Robespierre dispensing a fearful justice, and the archetypal gadfly Marat—the events and figures of the French Revolution have exercised a hold on the historical imagination for more than 200 … Later the French section expanded and was a participant in the Commune. Several revisionist historians emerged and confronted the Marxist orthodoxy, further broadening the historiography of the revolution. Historians of the Revolution F.A. François Charles Fourier (1772-1837) was a French socialist much admired by Marx. Late 18th century France was already a rising capitalist economy, Cobban argued; many Third Estate deputies had grown rich from capitalist enterprises long before 1789. THE CRITICAL DICTIONARY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION Edited by Fran,cois Furet and Mona OzoufParis: Flammarion, 1,009 pp. Marxist interpretations dominated the historiography of the French Revolution for much of the 20th century. The monarchy and aristocracy were filled with incompetence and corruption, Carlyle believed, and got what they deserved. Alfred Soboul. Many academics savaged its writing style, however, claiming that Carlyle had blended history with romantic literature. Socialist History of the French Revolution, Algeria and the defeat of French Humanism, The Turn in the World Situation (1968 onwards), With the Masses, Against the Stream: French Trotskyism in the Second World War, Critique of the Foundations of Psychology, The sociologist and political philosopher, founder of the "Physiocrat" School of political economy, social critic, founder of linguistics and educational theorist. One of the most traumatic events to shake post-war France was the Algerian Revolution of 1959 which triggered a crisis in France. One of Carlyle’s contemporaries was French historian François Mignet (1796-1884). The bourgeois revolutionaries sought two things: access to government and political power, and economic reforms amenable to their business interests. Michelet sees the revolution as spinning out of control but justifiably so, because the bourgeoisie had to deal with so much crap before. All historians possess a mind, personality, and outlook that affect their work so that everything they write is to some degree autobiographical. Born in Paris, Furet became an active communist after World War II before abandoning communism in his late 20s. Escape from Post-Commune France, is a personal account of her experiences by Jenny Marx. These include the structuralist Louis Althusser (1918-1980), the cultural critic Guy Debord, and post-modern theorist Jean-François Lyotard. Marxist historians agree in viewing the causation of the Revolution as materialist: the Manifesto claims that the Revolution represented the growth of capitalism and the triumph of “bourgeoisie” since the ancien régime’s “feudal relations of property became no longer compatible with the already developed (bourgeois) productive forces.” The events here described are just as relevant and inspirational now as they were then. Why Morris Slavin chose to study the French Revolution and how he approached it in his numerous publications is the theme of this appreciation. Pierre Bourdieu, the most eminent of recent French Marxists, died in 2001. To Marxist historians, the tumult in France began as a bourgeois revolution. He saw the revolution as a necessary event that attempted to advance government and society, based on the sound ideas of the Enlightenment. For more information on usage, please refer to our Terms of Use. After the fall of the Paris Commune, France became the centre of opposition to Marx within the International from Anarchists. In Reflections on the Revolution in France, Burke claimed the unfolding changes in France were too radical and ambitious; they made changes that could not be sustained and unleashed forces that could not be controlled. The founder of positivism was Auguste Comte (1798-1857). Publisher: Alpha History The Channel interrupted its schedule of WWII footage for a special on the French Revolution. Carlyle’s history of the revolution proved popular with the general public and some historians. The 20th century’s most prominent Marxist historian was Georges Lefebvre (1874-1959). French Revolution memory quiz – events 1789-91, French Revolution memory quiz – events 1792-95, French Revolution memory quiz – events to 1788, French Revolution memory quiz – terms (I), French Revolution memory quiz – terms (II), French Revolution memory quiz – terms (III). "Revisionism" in this context means the rejection of the Orthodox/Marxist model of a revolution carried out by the bourgeoisie against the aristocracy on the right, with intervention from the proletariat pushing it to the left. The first interpretations of the French Revolution were written as the revolution itself was unfolding. Published in 1859, A Tale of Two Cities was a bleak, humourless historical novel. He treads lightly when describing the radicalism of the later revolution. Lefebvre’s view of the revolution was echoed by other historians of the 1900s. French Revolution historiography certainly from the early 1900s to the 1960s, the framework brings to bear concepts related to Marxist theories of the condi- tions and consequences of class struggle, on the one hand, and more broadly The Turn in the World Situation (1968 onwards), Pierre Frank 1969. HUM 212 Final 59 Terms. The son of a struggling Paris printer, Michelet’s father saved enough to provide him with a university education. It gives a central role to the Bourgeoisie for being the main inspirators for its cause. The arguments of the revisionist school, which challenged the French Marxist interpretation of the Revolution as the replacement of the nobility by the bourgeoisie as the dominant class, are many and covering all major revisionist historians (Cobban, Taylor, Doyle, etc) is futile in an essay of such length. Copyright: The content on this page may not be republished without our express permission. He was not afraid of depicting violence in graphic terms or casting judgement on revolutionary figures, sometimes in strong terms. Short of money, she began writing novels and short stories around the turn of the 20th century. For Mignet, the revolution should not be judged by its radicals, its street mobs or its guillotines. She believes that the erosion of church power and reforms to civil law liberated women to a degree, making marriage less binding and restrictive than it had been. The following writers of Pre-Revolutionary France are significant: Marx gives the following analysis of the history of French Materialism & Communism in The Holy Family, 1845. Instead of relaxing the constraints on French women, the revolution actually preserved and reinforced gender differences and barriers. Georges Lefebvre. Any student or historian who seeks an understanding of the French Revolution and its contrasting perspectives faces a number of challenges. Interpretations of the French Revolution, George Rudé 1961. Schama’s approach to writing history, along with his interpretations of the revolution, was not to everybody’s taste. Trotsky wrote important articles on the situation in France during the period when the Comintern policy was for “Popular Front”: During the Second World War, the Trotskyist movement played an important role in the Resistance, despite being caught between the Stalinists on one side and the Nazis on the other. As this tension and conflict worsened in 1792-93 the revolution disintegrated into terror and anarchy. The ideas of the revolution, Landes contends, were both economically bourgeois and socially conservative. He cites heavy use of the Internet, resources such as the H-Francedaily discussion email list, and use of digital sources to scan through massive amo… The earliest utopian socialists were French: Morelly was an early Utopian socialist, about whom little is known. The general consensus is that the revolution did little for French women and in some respects pushed them backwards. Furet François, Interpreting the French Revolution, trans. Cobban’s argument was supported by George V. Taylor, an American historian. The articles reproduced below were written to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Great French Revolution. Profession(s): Academic, historian Books: Classes and Class Struggles during the French Revolution (1953), The Parisian Sans-Culottes and the French Revolution (1964), The Sans Culottes: the Popular Movement and Revolutionary Government (1972), The French Revolution 1787-1799 (1975), A Short History of the French Revolution … French Marxists (though some do not really warrant the name) were among the first to outline the views which became known as “post-modernism”. OTHER SETS BY THIS CREATOR. Perhaps the best known contemporary accounts of the revolution was penned by Anglo-Irish politician and philosopher Edmund Burke (1729-1797). It is a summary of how different historians and movements have interpreted the revolution over time, not a comprehensive or rigorous discussion. Soboul did not consider the sans culottes a class. Citizens is more sympathetic to Louis XVI, the aristocracy and political conservatives than other histories. See: The writings of other French Marxists, not here available in English, may be found in the French Section of the M.I.A.. France History Archive |
The bicentenary of the French Revolution in 1989 inspired a new wave of narrative histories, further expanding the historiography of the French Revolution. The earliest utopian socialists were French: Morelly was an early Utopian socialist, about whom little is known. Marxist. The French Revolution offered a universal Declaration of the Rights of Man, which consciously reached beyond the borders of France, as a challenge to every single crowned head of Europe. The French revolution is an endless source of lessons for modern socialists and working class activists. In 1851 his lectures at the Collège de Paris were suspended, after complaints and objections to their content. The only remedy for this, Paine argued, was a revolution from the ground up, in order to rebuild government and society. The ‘urban revolution‘ erupted on the streets of Paris in mid-1789 and was driven by the economic interests of the working classes. The French Revolution was an event of great historical significance. As a consequence, the historiography of the revolution is complex and contains many different perspectives or schools of thought. Lived: 1874-1959. The present republication therefore requires no particular justification. According to Furet, the revolution began as an expression of liberal-democratic principles but had moved off course by 1792. The French Revolution: A History was eventually published in 1837. Conversely, it despises radical figures like Jean-Paul Marat and Robespierre, who were totalitarian in their outlook but myopic and out of their depth. Étienne Cabet (1788-1856) inspired Utopian socialist settlements in America. The People's Friend, Bax 1900. One of the more successful narrative accounts was Citizens by British historian Simon Schama. A Cambridge-educated Englishman, Cobban was a professor of French history at University College, London for more than 30 years. The Girondins, who were more representative of the bourgeoisie and favoured free-market economic policies, opposed these measures. In his Lectures on the History of Philosophy, Hegel presents the following summary of French Philosophy, 1830. Politically, Schama is a liberal whose perspectives of the revolution align with those of Edmund Burke and Alexis de Tocqueville. Albert Soboul’s “The French Revolution in the History of the Contemporary World” is an example of a Marxist interpretation of the revolution, while Colin Lucas’ “Nobles, Bourgeois, and the Origins of the French Revolution” is an example of a Revisionist interpretation of the revolution. It was driven by class struggle between the rising bourgeoisie and the aristocracy, and marked France’s transition from feudalismto capitalism. Orczy demonstrates a negative view of the revolution, based on her portrayals of class. Conservative-liberal. In his view, they were a loose coalition of artisans, labourers and petit bourgeoisie who, despite their differences and internal tensions, became united against the aristocracy and wealthy commoners. Majority of historians and students of the French revolution hold the notion that this insurrection was a bourgeois revolution, fueled by class conflict. George Rude. methods that shed a new light on the French Revolution. While Marxist historians claimed the Reign of Terror was a valid response to internal and external opposition, Furet argued that terror was ‘built-in’ to revolutionary action from its early days. Unlike previous histories of the revolution, which were written in dry and bland tones, Carlyle’s account was colourful and dramatic, filled with poetic language, florid expression and metaphor. The French Revolution began in the domain of philosophy and social theory. This list may not reflect recent changes ( learn more ). Its ideas and outcomes shaped not just the development of France but the history of Europe. Historians generally--and Marxists in particular--have presented the revolution of 1789 as a bourgeois revolution: one which marked the ascendance of the bourgeois as a class, the defeat of a feudal aristocracy, and the triumph of capitalism. He claims the French Revolution began as a “whispering campaign” based on false premises. In order to answer this question adequately it will be necessary to identify what the Marxist historians feel were the causes of the French Revolution. Essentially an adventure story, The Scarlet Pimpernel tells of an English playboy who rescues endangered aristocrats from France during the Reign of Terror. At the time of Lefebvre’s death, he was arguably the world’s foremost expert on the French Revolution. In late 1790, Burke published an extended essay called Reflections on the Revolution in France. Cobban Alfred, The SocialInterpretation of the French Revolution, 2nd Ed, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999) Desan Suzanne, "What's after Political Culture? 163–96. The bourgeois revolutionaries sought two things: access to government and political power, and economic reforms amenable to their business interests. Neo-Marxist. Another novelist who influenced public perceptions of the French Revolution was Emma Orczy, later Baroness Orczy (1865-1947). See also: Revolutionary France Subject Archive. This article contains a brief introduction to French Revolution historiography. (See Babeuf and the Conspiracy of Equals). During the 19th century, the best known British historian of the French Revolution was Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881). AdamWerbik. 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